Aerin and afterlife

I admit the exact status of Aerin's mortality is ambiguous; one could imagine that the "mortal part" of her would die at some point, as well as Tor, and then she (or what was left) would go to Luthe. My interpretation was she wasn't subject to old age anymore, and that it'd be time to leave when Tor and those she'd grown up with were dead. But the text underdetermines this.

Aerin doesn't see much more of Luthe's friends than Harry does. One could say this is because the friends are ghosts or otherwise spiritual; I go for the literal interpretation: Luthe said they were shy, and those who bear kelar can hide, so they were hiding from Luthe's guests. Although now that I think about it being able to hide from Aerin implies either that Luthe's friends are also Old Ones, really rich in kelar, or else that their skill outweighed her superior but untrained kelar at that time.

But it's not clear how much "spirituality" there is in Damar. No mention of an afterlife, ever, that I can recall. And religion is odd too: _Hero_ makes many mentions of Aerinha and the Seven Perfect Gods, but we never see any prayer or worship, just rituals. _Sword_ doesn't mention any gods, but the ancestor-worship/hero-cult of the Lady Aerin seems more heartfelt than anything in _Hero_. And has better results. Perhaps because Aerin's alive while Aerinha was 20 years dead of poison in _Hero_ and the other gods never existed. :) I must say, if _Hero_ was told from two removes you could call the master mages gods, Old Ones, or elf lords, and no one would notice.

Hmm. _God Stalk_ pays even less respect to deities. Another similarity of _Hero_ to it. :) :)